The Pulpit Commentary — Ezekiel — Volume 2 — Section 431

Israel in the Messianio era when Jehovah east inner gate, whiob was shut on the six ahould perm11,nently dwell in his holy mount working de.ye (oh. xlvi, I), or through the of Zion; to Ezekiel, accordingly, the so.me east outer gate, which we.a e.1 ways shut figure nalurally occurs as a means of ex• (eh. xliv. 1), his conductor led him outside of the inner e.nd outer courts by the north hibiting the life and healing, peace e.nd gates (litere.lly, to the north (outer) gale), and prosperity, that should result to Israel from brought him round by the way without u.nto the erection upon her soil of Jehovah's the outer gate by the way that looketh san,·tuary and the institution among her eastward. This can only import that, on people of Jehovah's worship. Zechariah reaching the north outer gate, the prophet e.nd bis guide turned eastward and moved (xiii. I ; xiv. 8) and John (Rev. xxii. 1, 2) round to the east outer gate. The Revised undoubtedly make use of the same image, VeI':lion reads, by the way of the gate that which, it is even probable, they derived looketh toward the east; but e.s the -east from Ezekiel (comp. Ecclus. xriv. SO, Sl, in outer gate was the terminus ad quem of which Wisdom is introduced as saying, "I the prophet's walk, it is better to translate, to the gnte looking eastward. When the also call1e out e.s a brook from a river, and prophet had arrived thither, he once more as a conduit into e. garden. I said, I will we.ter beheld that there ran out-literally, trickled my best garden, e.nd will we.ter abundantly forth (o•~~l;> occurring here only in Scripture, my garden bed ; and, lo, my brook became e.nd being derived from n:::,~, "to drop down," a river, e.nd my river became e. sea"). or "weep ")-waters. Obviously these were the same as Ezekiel he.d already observed Ver. 1.-Having completed his survey (whence pl'Obe.bly the omission of the article; of the sacrificial kitchens in the outer see Ewa.Id's 'Syntax of the Hebrew Gram- court (eh. xlvi. 19-24), the prophet we.e mar,' p. 34, Eng. transl.). On (literally, once more conducted by his guide to the from) the right side; or, shoulder. This, door of the house, or of the temple in the age.in, signified the oomer where the east strict sense, i.e. of the sanctuary. There we.II of the temple and the south we.11 of the be perceived tbe.t waters issued (literally, gate joined. and behold waters issuing) from u.nder the Ver. 3.-Having emerged from the corner threshold of the house, i.e. of the temple of the east outer gate in drops, the stream, porch (see eh. xL 48, 49; e.nd comp. eh. ix. which had not swollen in its passage across 3) eastward, the direction having been the outer court and under the temple wall, d~termined by the fact that the forefront of speedily exhibited e. miraculous increase in the house stood or was toward the ee.st. depth, and therefore in volume. Having He also noticed that the waters co.me down advanced eastward along the course of the (or, deseended)-the temple having _been stream an e.ccnrately measured distance of situated on higher ground than the mner e. thousand cubits (about one-third of a court-from u.nder the threshold, from the mile), the prophet's guide.brought, or callSed right side of the house-literally, from t~e him to pass, through the waters, when he shou,l,d,er (comp. eh. xl. 18, 40, 41, 44; xli. found that they were to the ankles; or, were 2, 26; xlvi. 29) of the house, the right. waters of the ankles, e.s the Cbaldeo, Syriao, The tw0 clauses are not to be conjoined e.s Vulgate, Keil, Kliefotb, Ewe.Id, and Smend by Hengstenberg, Ewald.,[e.nd Smend., as if translate, rather than "wuter of the foot• they meant, from underneath the right side soles" as Gesenius and Hii.vernick render, of the house; but kept t'.li8tinct, to ~ndicate mea!tl.ng " water that hitherto he.d only been the different features which entered 10to the deep eno'ugh to wet the soles." The iJ8o,p prophet's picture. The first was that the cupfr,.,s, or '' we.ter of vanishing," of the waters issued forth from under the threshold LXX., is based on the idea of •:,fo.ilinll'," of the house; the secoud, that they pro• "ceasing," "coming to an end, which ceeded from the right side or shoulder of appears to be the root-conception of t:>~!$ the house, i.e. from the corner where the (see Gen. xlvii 15, 16 ; Ps. lxxvii. 9 ; Isa. south wall of the porch and the east wal! of xvi. 4). the temple joined (see eh. xli. I); the thud, Ver. 4.-At e. second e.nd e. tuird distance that the stream flowed on the south side of of e. tliouse.ud cubits the same process wus re- the altar, which stood exactly in front of the peated., when the waters were found to bo first temple porch (see eh. xl. 47), and would waters to the knees, and secondly waters to have obstructed the course of the waters had they issued forth from the porch door- (or, of) the loins. The unu~uul expre_ssi_on, way instead of from the comer above c•n~ c:z:i, instead 'P., as m the SIJlllle.r described. expressions before and !l'fter, me.y hav~ been Ver. 2.-A.s the prophet could not follow chosen, Keil suggests, m order to avoid re• the stream's course by passing through the semblance to the phrase, c;~JJ '1?.'P., iD ou. xLvn. 1-23.] THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. 447